1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lock assembly for roller-blades, and more particularly to a lock assembly that can be locked or released in a one step operation.
2. Description of Related Art
Referring to FIG. 5, roller-blades (40) have a boot (41), a lock assembly (50) mounted on the boot (41) to securely hold the user's foot in the boot (41) and a series of aligned rollers fixedly mounted on the under side of the boot (41). The conventional lock assembly (50), as shown in FIG. 6, includes a plate (51) attached to the boot (41), a lock block (52) pivotally attached to the plate (51) at a pivot (53), a locking tongue (57) slidably mounted in a slot (521) in the lock block (52) and at least one spring (58) located between the lock block (52) and the locking tongue (57). The plate (51) has a hook (511) formed on the distal end, and the locking tongue (57) has a latch catch (571) corresponding to the hook (511) to engage with it. One end of a belt (55) is pivotally connected to the lock block (52) with a pivot pin (54) to securely hold the boot (41) on the user's foot. A recess (524) is defined on the face of the slot (521) for receiving each spring (58). A channel (522) connecting to the slot (521) is defined on the side of the block (52) which faces the plate (51) for receiving the latch catch (571) of the locking tongue (57), such that the latch catch (571) can slide along the channel (522) corresponding to the lock block (52). The locking tongue (52) has at least one protrusion (572) formed thereon, and the lock block (52) has a hole (523) to receive each protrusion (572) so as to keep the locking tongue (57) from bouncing out of the slot (521).
By such an arrangement, the latch catch (571) will engage with the hook (511) when the lock block (52) abuts the plate (51), such that the belt (55) can bind around the boot (41) by the pull of the lock block (52).
Referring to FIGS. 6-8, when the user pushes the locking tongue (57) corresponding to the lock block (52), the latch catch (571) will move along the channel (522) and disengage from the hook (511). Then the lock block (52) can rotate relative to the fixed plate (51), and the belt (55) will loosen, such that the foot of the user can be inserted into or be taken out of the boot (41).
However, the conventional lock assembly (50) for roller-blades (40) has a complex structure, thus the cost for manufacturing and assembling the lock assembly (50) will increase. In addition, two operational steps in two different directions are required to disengage the lock assembly (50). Therefore, the operation of the conventional lock assembly (50) is inconvenient. Furthermore, the latch catch (571) cannot engage with the hook (511) if there is an elastic failure in the spring (58).
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention tends to provide an improved lock assembly to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.